Life As We Know It

Life as we know it has been turned upside down.  I feel like a post on Facebook said it the best.  I feel like the story of the world right now is being written by a 4th grader, "And there was this virus and everyone was scared. And then the world ran out of toilet paper, yeah, and then there was no school for like a month and then there was an earthquake." All those things are true.  The world is so crazy right now.  We are at home all day together.  Expect Don still has to work, his job is deemed critical to society. But I have been here for a week with the six kids. We have had very little social interactions as social distancing is a must to not contract or carry COVID-19.  I think that things will only escalate in our state as we are just starting into it.  Today we just got word that school will be all digital learning until May 1.  I expect us to not return to school this school year. Let me break down out day for you.
7:30 - scripture study
8:00 - breakfast and get ready for the day
by 8:30 am we have started our online learning.  Landon has a lot to do with his Mandarin on top of the 40 min for each core subject.  Landon also is using OneNote and typing all his responses so his teachers are doing awesome at checking for learning.  Bryson and Jaron are on Canvas doing learning.  Eldon's teacher just e-mails each week what he needs to work on each day. Kayla has a packet that has 5 pages she needs to do each day.
10:00 am - Mind break! The kids have to turn off electronics and get moving in some way.
11:00 am - Learning activity.  We do something educational together.  We write stories, do art, or science experiments.  Sometime the kids still have work to be doing so we don't always do a group activity.
noon - Lunch.  The schools are still providing lunch for students. This is so cool to me.  Our country is still making sure the kids are fed. I love living in America
12:30 pm  - Chores
1:00 pm - Quiet time.  The kids can read, draw, do puzzles. Patten naps.
2:00 pm - Educational videos if they want.
3:00 pm - Build a skill.  Jaron, Bryson, and Kayla all have videos from their coaches so they can build skills at home.
4:00pm - Free time!
5:30/6:00pm - Dinner.  My kids have always had a day. Kayla - Monday, Landon - Tuesday  . . . Patten has Saturday.  On their day they are on K.P. they help with all the meals. Jaron and Bryson only need to ask questions about cooking dinner but for the most part they can do it themselves.  The others are just my assistants while cooking.
During diner the person who's day it is also is in charge of family scripture study/discussion.
8:00 pm - Get in bed and ready until lights out at 8:30 pm.

Stores are quite the scene.  The whole toilet paper thing is a little much, it's a tough to find item.  Luckily we have enough and don't need to fight the crowds for it.  We did brave Costco on March 16th.  While waiting in a very long line to enter we got one of the last tickets to be able to purchase one case of toilet paper, which we did because family could use it.  We were also only allowed to get one or two of each item in the store. No mass buying was allowed at that point.  The few weeks before March 16th people were buying soooo many cases of everything. Milk, eggs, butter, potatoes, flour, rice, beans, and pasta are also all things that are harder to find in store right now.  I am at this time in my life SO grateful for a mother that taught me to be prepared.

I also see God's hand in me getting my degree in education.  I just finished all my online course work on March 14th, two days before the kids were to stay home all day.  This wasn't a coincidence. I feel like God knew I would need to be able to help teach my kids.
Our church leaders have been preparing us for this very event also.  We are ready to teach the gospel in our home.  Having the sacrament at home has been such a spiritual experience.  I know God's power is on the earth.  I have it in my home and am grateful for that.

Last, let me not forget the earthquake.  That was something I have not felt since I was 5 years old.  5.7 in Magna.  Don was at work, I was just about to get in the shower when the house started shaking and I had sea legs.  Landon comes running in with fear in his eyes, it is still undecided if the fear was from seeing his mother naked or the shaking.  But I told him to get in a doorway. Which I have since learned isn't what you should do, but that's what I was taught.  Patten thought it was fun and kept waiting for another one to happen all day.  Eldon and Bryson thought that brothers were shaking their bed.  Kayla wasn't awake. Jaron was awake laying in his bed.  The first thought that went through is head is that he could tell others he lived through an earthquake.  But there was a lot of talk about it through the day as we felt aftershocks.  We even had one Sunday night, 4 days later. Again, my degree came in handy as I was able to explain and keep kids calm about what was happening.  The Davis School district started a rumor that there was to be a very much larger earthquake soon, but that isn't how it works.  Utah will never see something as big as a 9 and there is only a 5% chance that one as large or larger will happen again soon.  Anyway, needless to say the neighborhood has a slight panic.  But Bishop and I were able to calm that storm quickly.

So yes, it feels like the world's history is being written by 4th graders right now.  But I have complete faith in God's plan for me and my family and know that all will be well.